Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's the week of June fifteenth, twenty twenty five, and
this is what's on the People's News. Over fifteen thousand
turnout for Houston's No King's protest. Warrantless arrests agents who
don't id themselves, welcome to the convicted felon's criminal immigration crackdown.
(00:26):
An off duty HPD officer and a retired HPD officer
shoot and almost kill an unarmed man walking his dog.
Former mayor returns the spotlight to run for county judge.
It's Pride month and it's a little quieter this year.
Texas GOP looks to end a state tuition for undocumented immigrants.
(00:50):
Two music geniuses lost this week. All that and more
on the People's News. I'm Steve Gallington. This is the
People's News, and the People's News starts now. This is
Steve Gallington of the People's News. I want to report
(01:11):
that I had the distinct pleasure of attending the No
King's rally, which was held on Saturday, June fourteenth, Flag
Day from about ten o'clock in the morning through about noon.
First going into it, I had a lot of anxiety
and fear, especially based on all the news that was
coming out of Los Angeles about the convicted felon illegally
(01:36):
and against the constitution. Of course, when you put a
criminal in the White House, you get a criminal government,
and they've been breaking the law every single day. But
with the escalations of violence in Los Angeles at the
hands of the California National Guard and now the US
Marines detaining US citizens on US soil for the first
(01:58):
time in history, and with the announcement that Republican Governor
Greg Abbott mobilized and called up five thousand Texas National
Guard troops to keep the peace during the protests, it
made me very nervous about what would happen. But I
was greeted when I got there by a happy, vibrant,
(02:20):
and fun crowd. We were over fifteen thousand strong, one
of over two thousand protests no King's protests nationwide. They
estimate now between five and twelve million people turned out
across the country yesterday to protest against the corrupt and
criminal Trump administration. Here's some sound from the event as
(02:44):
we were listening to the speakers at City Hall just
prior to when we marched.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Protected flag and everything that it means.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Remember the last worst liberty and justice fraud. Good morning, Houston,
Morty Star, can everone grab a sip of water.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Graam's and water while we're talking. I'm Abby Cayman.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
I am so proud to be one of your council
members right here in Houston.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Good morning.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
You said, my name is Mario Castillo.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
I'm your district as Houston City council member. Housday.
Speaker 5 (03:36):
Good morning.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
My name is Hookey Phemius and I'm your district guy.
He's a city council member.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
And I know council Member Sally Elhorn is somewhere in
the crowd.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
But we thought, but it.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Was important to make sure we are here. So you
know every level of government is standing with you. This
is your city hole.
Speaker 6 (03:57):
Make sure your voice is Friday.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
We thank the organizers and we think all of you
for making sure your.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Voice is heard.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
I also want to thank our public safety folks that
are here today to protect us as well. And in
that fame, it is my privilege to call to the
stage Major Roger Boykins, retired out of bour Campbell Home
up the one hundred and first, thank you to all
(04:31):
of our veterans.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Oh, we're celebrating two things day.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
We're celebrating the Army's birthday. Holy we taking over to
this country and they're flame there. We're gonna fin play
the legions to the black Okay.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Everybody, put the hand on you. I'm a pleasant Legions.
The United States of America.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
And to the Republic stands one nation under God, indivisible,
liberty and justice.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
We have a lot of veterans out here. Yeah, we
have better school.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
We had in religions that were the immigrants that came over.
He puts make a look of agen and then they
served this country and they serve the nation. We took
it all to this country, not king. Okay, we need
(05:58):
to remember that we stand up for America first. After
everybody the wanting hurt, I.
Speaker 7 (06:08):
Was a part.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
I'm gonna shut up right now. Okay, but got three minutes,
that's really three minutes. But remember, we took it over
for this country, and we took it over for this country,
for every person that walks in America.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
And when we when when I was in uniform, I
was proud to wear that uniform knowing that I was
representing the United States.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
When I was over in Europe and other places in
Germany and Korea.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
We knew we took it over to represent America.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Now, if you go over to the other countries right now,
I guarantee you and looking at us laughing.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Okay, but you guys, get your head upide.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Remember this is the United States of America.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Now. The estimate from the organizers was that there were
fifteen thousand people there present. I'm really not that good
at math. It seemed like at least fifteen thousand. But
we did march from City Hall all the way down
to Discovery Green, turned around and came back. I was
near the front of the route of the march, and
(07:22):
according to Google Earth, the parade route was just over
a mile a mile and a third And when I
got back to City Hall, you could still look across
the block and see that the opposite street where we
were marching out on was completely filled with people. So
at least fifteen thousand people. The energy was great. There
(07:45):
were no National Guarden troops at the protest yesterday, not visible.
The Houston Police Department was visible and visibly keeping us safe.
Did not confront the protesters in any way, were very
kind and kept what counter protesters there were, and I
didn't notice any counter protesters except maybe a half dozen
(08:05):
or so folks dressed up in the yellow and black
of the Proud Boys group at the far end of
the route near Discovery Green. They were kept from the
rest of the marchers by HPD and everything went very well,
So it was inspirational. It shows that even a want
(08:26):
to be dictator pulling all the levers of power to
get an authoritarian government cannot happen in this country if
the people stand up against them, and the country has
said in a very loud voice once again, millions of
people in the street, fighting for our fellow citizens, fighting
(08:47):
for our friends and neighbors, fighting to keep America free
and keep America a democracy, as they said, with liberty
and justice for all. And off duty Houston Police LAE
officer and a retired HPD officer shot and almost killed
Keith Meyer, who was walking his dog at the time.
(09:08):
He had walked on a neighbor's property and an argument
had ensued. He was shot three times in the leg
and stomach. We talked to civil rights attorney Randall L.
Callaman about this case and another case in the city
of Santa Fe south of Houston in Galveston County, where
a woman was held down in a bed of ants
(09:29):
by law enforcement.
Speaker 8 (09:32):
Keith Meyer was walking his dog late one night in
February near his own property. He had lived there for
over thirty years, and he got kind of lost because
there's no street lights or anything in the forest, of course,
and he ended up on his neighbor's property, and who
(09:55):
was the daughter of a retired police officer who lived
really close and a current duty police officer lived next door.
And he was unarmed, yet they shot him in the leg,
and then they shot him in the stomach, and then
they shot him in the face. He almost passed aways.
(10:19):
He's had several surgeries, three or ready for maybe and
then he has to do more reconstructive surgery on his face.
And the investigating officer for Montgomery County, because this happened
in Mognolia, which is in Montgomery County, she has stated
that keith Meyer, the victim, had no weapon on him
(10:42):
and he did not assault anyone. What the officers are
claiming is, you know, the common thing, you hear he
reached toward his waistband and that he threatened them verbally,
which is denied by Keith So it's really disturbing and
so we need to get to the bottom of it.
I was very disappointed that neither the Montgomery County Sheriff's
(11:07):
Department nor the Houston I D Department, which who claims
is investigating this, have collected the medical records, because of
course the medical records would show how many times he
was shot, where he was shot, potentially the angle he
was shot at, and all that. And neither one of
those people who claim to be investigating organizations who claim
to be investigating even asked for those medical records, which
(11:31):
makes me think maybe they don't want the evidence. They
don't want to be hold in holding any evidence, because
of course then then if they have evidence, you know,
if there's no evidence, then maybe there can be reasonably
no actions against the two officers, right right, So what
(11:52):
there are they gonna was gonna go to a grand
jury at all? Well, there is always the potential fore
grand jury, and he in Texas, in Houston anyway, in
Harris County, all shootings by the police do go to
a grand jury. It's a policy. But this is Montgomery County,
and so I do not know the policy there.
Speaker 5 (12:12):
Every case, even if you're retired, you still have to
go through the same process.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
No.
Speaker 8 (12:19):
I remember one of the officers was retired. The other
one was active duty with nine years on the force.
He was in the homicide division. That's the active duty one.
So so the i D would be in reference to
the active duty officer.
Speaker 5 (12:34):
And is he taken off the force or is he
under is he suspended or anything.
Speaker 8 (12:40):
There's currently no restrictions. He's on duty just like he
always is.
Speaker 5 (12:46):
H is HBD Internal Affairs is in involved with this
at all.
Speaker 8 (12:52):
HBD i D claims they're investigating, but in the three
or three four months which as has happened, they have
not got the medical records, which I would think would
be very important.
Speaker 5 (13:04):
So where does where do we stand now? Because it
is Motgommery County.
Speaker 8 (13:09):
As as far as grand jury's I think that's up
to the district attorney and the district attorney. There is
Brett Ligan who used to be a Harris County prosecutor,
so he's very familiar, has worked with HPD for many years.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
Also, you're working on another case too, dealing with the
Santa Fe Santa Fe Police Department, the well Santa Fe
is s D. You want to talk about that for both,
it's both the Santa Fe is D and the Santa
Fe Police Department, because in that particular case, there's a
video which shows that this Santa Fe police officer held
(13:49):
my client's face in a fire and bed while she
was not resisting and in handcuffs. It's Santa Fe. The
Santa Fe Police departments has been in the visitation also
for a while now. Uh, I mean this is asked
more to the scrutiny of that at that police department
and and the the city officials as they're running it.
(14:11):
They're running it that that little square, that little town,
so to speak. Yeah, Well, the elected officials are in
the end responsible for what their officers do. So if
there's any you know, they definitely need to have some discipline.
In this instance, there was I don't believe there was
any discipline against any of the officers. And they're they're
(14:31):
still working for both of their respective agencies.
Speaker 8 (14:34):
How is a woman as involved, How is she doing well?
She is, she's recovered physically, but not mentally.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
That was civil rights attorney Randall L. Callaman Hi. This
is Steve Gallington, producer and host of the People's News.
If you have a story that needs to be told,
come to us we accept fully produced audio written material,
or just give us the idea and we will run
with it. Shiny new one hour episodes of The People's
(15:04):
News drop each Sunday on The People's News podcast, hosted
by spreaker dot com and linked to my website Gallington
dot com. Federal agents, under the direction of the corrupt
and criminal Trump administration, are making warrantless arrests around the country,
(15:25):
holding people without charges for days. Added to this is
the illegal detention of people that are protesting ICE actions
at businesses and at people's homes. The National Guard and
the US military is being used to detain US citizens
on US soil. Now this is being challenged in courts.
(15:48):
In Irvine, California, ICE agents drove a failings of military
vehicles in the Orange County suburb to rest a single person,
though not for illegal immigration. They were seeking a residence
son who had allegedly posted flyers alerting neighbors to the
presence of ICE agents. Leo Juarezepherino, a Washington State farm
(16:09):
workers union organizer, was another ICE target. Agents in an
unmarked car stopped him as he was driving his wife
to her job at a Tulip farm. The agents who
didn't show badges or identification smashed his window and pulled
him from the car. According to Familia's Unatus port Lojestica,
(16:29):
a farm worker union. Kate Lincoln Goldfinch is an immigration
attorney an owner CEO of Lincoln Goldfinch Law. We asked
her about the state of America right now.
Speaker 5 (16:41):
We're talking about ice. There warn't this arrests masked and
so you don't know and you can't even you can't
even get any type of information from who's trying to
risk or what you're being arrested for. You want to
talk about that. It's the legality of.
Speaker 9 (16:57):
It, sure, I mean, if there's not a blanket prohibition
against an officer in playing clothes making arrest. If you
think about it, there are like detectives who are on
playing clothes. Of course we know that. But what officers
do have to do is identify themselves and give the
you know, what agencies are with, what their name is,
what their badge number, make it very clear who they are.
(17:18):
And the way that these officers are showing up, you know,
with masks over their faces in playing clothes, they don't
seem to be identifying themselves are really giving any information,
and a lot of these detentions, the way that they
are behaving is that is illegal. Number one. It's also
really bad policy because you know, it turns into what
(17:40):
looks and in many cases could be just a kidnapping
off the streets. And we also know that this is
a time where the delantes or anti immigrant people are
out on the street pretending like they are law enforcement,
and so more than ever before, it's really critical that
law enforcement behaves ethically morally, and that if they are
(18:01):
going to go so far as to detain someone, they
make it very clear who they are, that they are
legitimately law enforcement.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
And this is going on, This is this is going
off for National guardsmen because they seem like they're using
all not just National Guards and brand and Marines, and
they're deputizing them as as as law enforcements.
Speaker 9 (18:20):
Right I mean, And that adds a whole other layer
to what's happening. So we see arrest by ice in
plain clothes around the country, and then we have protests
in la and in an unprecedented way, the president is
commandeering the National Guard and sending in the Marines to
essentially attack US citizens on US soil, and that is
(18:42):
a very very concerning action by the president. I think
a lot of people are bothered and paying attention.
Speaker 5 (18:51):
But he continues on and he has the course to
back him up on a lot of this. I think
California governor went to courts on an appeal as they
went back to supporting the Trump administration. So it seems
like it's a back and forth case and that's what
the administration wants. Am I correct on that.
Speaker 9 (19:14):
What's happening with the deployment of the National Guard is
that the state of California brought a lawsuit. The original
federal court issued a tro which is essentially a block
of the usage by the Trump administration of the National Guard.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted that tro essentially
allowing the National Guard to be commandeered by the Trump administration.
(19:38):
But this is all very temporary. There's a hearing scheduled
in just a few days on June seventeenth, and so
no one really knows what's going to be happening. But
I would say at this point it's very up in
the air what is going to happen with the National Guard?
And the question is can the president commandeer of the
National Guard, because even though this is National Guard, typically
(20:00):
the National Guards are under the control of governors in
the states.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
And these these are these general agents. Are they getting
away with breaking the constitution because you know, you're supposed
as a law enforcement you're supposed to identify yourself.
Speaker 9 (20:23):
Right well, I mean, if these National guardsmen or marines
are are making arrests which they're not supposed to be
doing right now, and they are failing to identify themselves,
they're violating that several laws and policies.
Speaker 5 (20:39):
Even if even even if they're breaking the law, it
seems like this administration is given a blanket, a blanket
to do whatever they want.
Speaker 9 (20:49):
For the most part, I think that's true. Yeah, I mean,
the Trump administration is certainly not going to turn to
the National guardsmen and say, oh, you're you're misbehaving in
the way that you're arresting people. That's too aggressive. But
I do think that the way all of this is
playing out on the ground will become relevant to the
lawsuit in Federal court and the Ninth Circuit Court of
(21:11):
Appeals as they hear an argument if there have been
instances where the National guardsmen of the Marines are detaining
people against policy, and especially doing so without identifying themselves.
I think that would be all the more reason that
the court would rule against the usage of these military
forces against US citizens.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
That was Immigration attorney Kate Lincoln Goldfinch, former Houston mayor
and East Parker, has decided to run for Harris County Judge.
We were there for her announcement.
Speaker 10 (21:41):
I just filed for election for Harris County Judge in
twenty twenty six.
Speaker 6 (21:46):
I'll be running in the.
Speaker 10 (21:47):
Democratic primary in March of next year, and then hope
to win the November election and take office in January.
Speaker 6 (21:58):
I am concerned learned about.
Speaker 10 (22:01):
The increasing dysfunction in Washington, the continued drumbeat of attacks
by Austin on local governments all over the state, and
I believe that my experience and skill set are perfect
for what Harris County needs as we navigate these challenges
that are coming at us. We're in a hurricane season.
(22:23):
We're about to have looks like a torrential rainstorm. We
have a government in Washington that doesn't believe in climate change.
Speaker 6 (22:31):
We know what's happening down here.
Speaker 10 (22:32):
They have they're trying to dismantle and do away with FEMA,
and they've already laid off most of the hurricane forecasters.
That means that we down here have to be ready
to take care of ourselves. The primary functions of Harris
County government are their law enforcement, their blood mitigation through
Harris County Flight Control, public health through Harris County Hospital District,
(22:57):
traffic and transportation, the road building that the commite sationers do.
Speaker 6 (23:01):
And then of.
Speaker 10 (23:01):
Course we have an affordability crisis and not enough homes
and not enough housing, and I'm just out there having
a conversation with a homeless guy as we were waiting.
All of these are issues that have to be addressed,
and more and more we're gonna have to address them
with the resources. The best in the bride is the
brain power and the abilities we have down here.
Speaker 6 (23:19):
I want to serve, I want to lead. I'm ready
to get to work.
Speaker 11 (23:22):
How you talked to Judge Dolgo about the fact that
you were going to announce your running.
Speaker 6 (23:27):
I let her know we have not had a conversation.
Speaker 10 (23:30):
I don't believe in sneaking up on people, and right
now there's nobody else in this race. I don't know
whether she's running or not. I'm not running against Lena Dalgo.
I am running to be the next Harris County judge.
And this the elections eighteen months away, So this is
an opportunity to have conversations around the county.
Speaker 6 (23:49):
Yes, I led the city of Houston.
Speaker 10 (23:50):
That's almost half the voters, half the population of Harris County.
But there are more than thirty other cities out there.
I'm familiar with them, but I want to get to
know them better. There are neighborhoods that I want to
talk to. I've been out of office for a while.
This is an opportunity to reintroduce myself and reintegrate the
(24:11):
ideas that they have with what my thoughts are and
figuring out what we can do to make Karas County safer,
healthier and stronger and actually more affordable going forward. Have you.
Speaker 11 (24:24):
About the main problem with Bright now is the jail
and a jail over crowding. We've had twenty five guests
I think last year, and we continued on the same
path this year, and we've been talking about this for
a long time and Nefli's been done.
Speaker 6 (24:39):
I served with E. Gonzalez.
Speaker 10 (24:40):
A Gonzalez is a friend and I believe he's an
outstanding sheriff. He is very well aware of the problems
in the jail. Most of the problems in the jail
are overcrowding. It's not what he caused, but is what
he has.
Speaker 6 (24:53):
To deal with.
Speaker 10 (24:54):
And I look forward to being a partner with him
once I am in this position to help sol some
of these problems.
Speaker 12 (25:01):
One of the things that's going on right now is
the attacks on the attack on Houston by the governor
and the lieutenant governor. And one thing is the attack
LGBTQ community. They've attacked a minority community and new talk
any attack voting rights, how how do you feel?
Speaker 2 (25:16):
How do you fight that?
Speaker 10 (25:21):
You know, John John Lewis used to talk about being
in good trouble. There are smart fights and there are
stupid fights in their dangerous fights. I think when we
are attacked on issues where we absolutely know that we
are right and we have to protect the citizens of
Harris County, we will stand up over and over again
and do everything we can to protect them. But you know,
(25:44):
we also have to be really careful not to pick
stupid fights. Well levels of government that in a crisis,
when the when the next storm inevitably comes.
Speaker 6 (25:52):
We have to be able to turn to them.
Speaker 10 (25:54):
And I will say that even though politically and philosophically
I disagree very much with most of what Greg Abbott
has done, a lot of what he did in those
last legislative sessions as mayor. When I called on him
at the State he responded, that's what we expect from
our from our public officials.
Speaker 6 (26:13):
We down here protect the rights of our citizens. We're
gonna push.
Speaker 10 (26:16):
Back wherever we need to, but we expect them to
understand that we are also citizens of Texas.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Being county judge of b mayor are two different beasts.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
What challenges do you expect to have to tackle that
are different than you have to deal with us mayor.
Speaker 10 (26:30):
The biggest difference is that there are independent elected officials
down here in the county who control aspects of county government.
And the cities is one entity, but with the county
there's independent elected officials. I have a good track record
of being able to work with very diverse officials in
(26:51):
other agencies, other cities, other levels of government. I understand
the limitations of the role, but I also understand the opportunities.
Speaker 6 (26:58):
Of the role.
Speaker 10 (26:59):
And I'm not I'm not running for county judge because
I want another job or because I have another I
have other political aspirations. I want to serve Harris County.
I know I can lead, I know I can be effective,
and I still have a heart for service. So I'm
looking forward to that, and I actually I'm really looking
(27:22):
forward to spending the next eighteen months or so getting
to know, really at a granular level, the entire county
in the same way that I knew at a really
granular level.
Speaker 6 (27:36):
In the city of Houston.
Speaker 10 (27:38):
I grew up in unincorporated Spring Branch. My grandparents lived
out on Brittmore Road. My other grandparents lived out on
jack Rabbit Road, and unincorporated Harris County. My first house
was in the city of bel Air. It's not that
I don't know the broader county and the broader issues,
but this is an opportunity to formally go out, introduce
(27:59):
myself in and say what do you need waken Harris
County do better. But I also have to sit down
with all these independent elected officials because this is a
different position, and I don't I want to, I would
not will not have the same authority.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
People bring up, people will bring up your record that's mayor,
the things that you do that's.
Speaker 10 (28:18):
Mayor right, for good, for good or ill. I have
a record as mayor. I will tell you that there
were there were no scandals on my watch at any
of the levels of government in which I serve.
Speaker 6 (28:28):
And I, you.
Speaker 10 (28:29):
Know, I if I say I'm going to do it,
I do it. I do it to the best of
my ability, and I'm run through the tape.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
What's your relationship like with Mayor John Whitmyer.
Speaker 4 (28:37):
He Andlina Hidalgo have in the past had some headbutting.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
What's your relationship like with him.
Speaker 10 (28:46):
I've known that John Whitmyer a very long time. I've
known all of the players that are currently serving here
in county government for for a very long time. I
look forward to a productive relationship, as I said, both
of John Widmar, but also with Greg Abbott when he's
doing the right thing. I don't have any problem calling
(29:06):
out another official if I think they're doing something that
is damaging to my constituents. But I also am happy
to work with him, you know, as mayor. I work
regularly with Steve Raddick, who.
Speaker 6 (29:19):
Was County Commissioner.
Speaker 10 (29:20):
We did another number of parks projects together.
Speaker 6 (29:24):
I worked with John Cornyn on.
Speaker 10 (29:30):
Red Kids and human trafficking initiatives, but I also called
him out when they were coming after the LGBTQ community
or when they were attacking voting rights. So it is
a matter of they have to know where we stand
on issues of principle, but they also have to be
reminded that we're all residents of the state of Texas
(29:50):
and they need to do the right thing in a crunch.
Speaker 12 (29:54):
What do you say to people about demo community because
they're under attacking Aaron fear right now, especially with Ice.
Speaker 6 (30:01):
They should be afraid.
Speaker 10 (30:03):
Donald Trump is trying to overturn all of the guardrails
of government across this country, and he is adding gasoline
to the fire with the protests in California.
Speaker 6 (30:16):
But he's doing it deliberately. Public protests is a civil right.
Speaker 10 (30:21):
We have to be smart about it, and we have
to be strategic about it. And people have to recognize
that we're going to lean heavily on the courts because
they're the only thing right at this point that can
rein in the president because Congress has abdicated his responsibility
to do that.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
She will run first in the Democratic primary and then
in the general election. GLAD, the world's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
and queer media advocacy organization, released the findings of its
thirteenth annual edition of its Studio Responsibility Index, which examines
films released in the twenty twenty four calendar year from
(30:58):
January the first to December thirty first. The study center's
research and analysis on ten top studio distributors A twenty four, Amazon,
Apple TV, Lionsgate, NBC, Universal, Netflix, Paramount Global, Sony Pictures Entertainment,
the Walt Disney Company, and Warner Brothers Discovery, including any
of their subsidiary distribution labels and majority owned streaming services.
(31:23):
We talked to Megan Townshend, GLAD Senior director of Entertainment Research.
Speaker 7 (31:28):
Yes, so, Glad's put out this week the thirteenth edition
of our Studio Responsibility in Debt, which is our study
that matters quantity, quantity and diversity of LGBTQ inclusion in film.
And unfortunately, in this year's study, which looks at skills
(31:49):
that came out in twenty twenty four from ten major distributors,
we actually saw a decreased year over year this second
year to see decrease, and it was down from our
previous record high in twenty twenty two. So what we
found was twenty three point six percent of major studio
(32:13):
releases included LGBTQ characters in twenty twenty four. But once
we really started to dig into that, what we saw
was also a drop in UH in screen time, with
the majority of LGBTQ characters appearing for under one minute,
and also a drop when we looked at the diversity
(32:34):
of those characters, with both decreases in LGBTQ people of
color and in trans characters. So it was not a
happy report, but it's something that we know that audiences
are looking for LGBTQ stories and is something that we
(32:57):
are you know, really you're working with the industry to
try and see where we can go from here. What
is the pass forward to make sure that some of
those standout films that we had, things like Love Life,
Bleeding Mean Girls, Drive Away Dolls, Mild Ass Problems are
(33:19):
more part of the trend forward rather than stand out
kind of unusual findings.
Speaker 5 (33:31):
Do you think that's because you've seen in corporations want
to try to buddy up or try to get closer
to the Trump administration, the United States President and his
and his avenue of excluding the LGBTQ community. I mean,
what we're seeing.
Speaker 7 (33:51):
Right now with the conversation about about DEI is really
that despite some of the headlines and things that are happening,
we know that consumers do, UH do value diverse and
inclusive stories and that they are interested in putting their
(34:15):
money where their mouth is.
Speaker 13 (34:17):
UH.
Speaker 7 (34:17):
So we know that, you know, consumers are are shifting
their dollars. So you know, even just in the first
few weeks since the inauguration, over half of lgbt consumers
have said that they already you know, have already cut
back there they're spending or planned to cut back or
redirect it to UH to companies that are standing behind,
(34:42):
behind the community and behind underrepresented UH audiences across the
board and as a business, if you're looking at the
key segments that you need to keep yourself stable and
too and to grow, it's clear that UH, you know,
businesses can't afford to UH to alienate these kind of
(35:06):
growth segments. If you look at at buying power, you
have one point four trillion UH with LGBTQ buyers one
point seven trillion with Black audiences three point four trillion
with Latine audiences. So going back to that, that number
about people who are realigning their studying with their values
(35:28):
right now, looking at LGBTQ consumers alone, that is over
eight hundred billion dollars. That's you know, potentially in flux
right now, which should be you know, a wake up
call for any company that is looking at what they
have coming up UH to make sure that it is
UH content and marketing that is reflective of the audiences
(35:55):
who are consuming it.
Speaker 5 (35:57):
Are well, I'm talking out the fear, and we saw
where Target took held back on trying to promote Pride Month,
and other corporations are doing the same thing. So it's
just it seems like it's it's fear for corporations who
normally would support especially that in film that normally supports
(36:21):
the community, have scaled back tremendously because of that fear
and backlash, even though it's not it's not as open
that they might think it is, and they don't think
the power is there from that from the communities, but
they outwardly blasting by some of the some officials and
(36:44):
some people on the right have made it so that
corporations want to want want to scale back and be fearful.
Speaker 7 (36:54):
I mean, I would say that there is a small
minority of people who are currently getting outsized coverage in
the press. But again, what we know is that inclusive
films are good for the bottom line. I think it
is very worth noting that of the ten studios that
(37:17):
we you know, that we're looking at for this study,
the only distributor that earned a grade of good was
A twenty four this year, and this was also the
first year that as a studio they passed the two
hundred million dollar mark at the box office for the
(37:37):
first time in the studio's history. So what we know
is that there is a passionate audience and consumer base
who are interested in and actively searching out LGBTQ and
inclusive stories, and studios who are looking to stay stable
(37:59):
or looking to grow. So should be considering these audiences
when they are looking at decisions around green lighting and
past production, also into marketing and release of those titles.
Speaker 5 (38:15):
We know all this is true, but how do we
combat the negative elements is out there?
Speaker 7 (38:25):
Sorry you were breaking up.
Speaker 5 (38:27):
How do we combat these these negative voices that are
out there in the public especially during prigma.
Speaker 7 (38:35):
I mean, I think the answer is doing more right now. Again,
there is an outsized attention that is being paid to
some of these voices that are truly not where the
majority of audiences are, where the majority of consumers are,
where the majority of Americans are. So the more inclusive
(38:59):
stories that we can get out there that are reflective
of the full diversity of the community, the more chances
that we have to connect with the audiences to humanize
our stories and to let people not only see themselves reflected,
(39:19):
but also for people who are different, who are not
in the community, to see us, to learn about us,
to learn from our stories. Again, we know that the
kind of it's impossible to hate somebody once you know
their story, and it's hard to vote against them once
you understand them. And GLAD was you know, was founded
(39:42):
in nineteen eighty five in the midst of a crisis
and response to kind of the height of the AIDS
epidemic and in response to really dehumanizing coverage, and our
founders saw the power of media to share our story
(40:04):
and let people get to know us. And so I
think that is is still present in Glad's DNA and
in the community's DNA that we are a resilient group.
And again we really see and understand the power of
having these inclusive stories that let people get to know
(40:26):
us in a way that is maybe different and challenges
all of the kind of anti LGBTQ rhetoric and misinformation
that we see coming from other sources. And so this
is really now, you know, more than ever for the
kind of power that that stories and film have to
(40:51):
not only do the right thing and educate while entertaining audiences,
but to again win, Uh, have a win in that
bottom line with audiences who are actively seeking out inclusive stories.
Speaker 1 (41:08):
That was Megan Townsend Glad, Senior Director of Entertainment Research,
speaking on the drop in LGBTQ representation in media.
Speaker 5 (41:17):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
This is Steve Gallington, producer and host of The People's News.
The People's News is people powered news. We are free
to report the unvarnished and unspun truth and challenge the
status quo of corporate propaganda and social media advertising disguised
as real news. Shiny new one hour episodes of The
(41:38):
People's News drop each Sunday on The People's News podcast.
Thanks for listening. According to the President's Alliance on Higher
Education and Immigration. Texas has about fifty seven thousand undocumented
students enrolled in public universities and colleges who will no
longer be eligible for in state tuition. We hear more
(42:02):
from Free to Ross and the Texas News Service.
Speaker 13 (42:05):
Immigration rights groups say they are considering legal action to
try and restore a Texas law allowing in state tuition
rates for undocumented college students. The move comes after the
Department of Justice sued Texas and within our state officials
complied without a fight. According to the US Attorney General,
(42:26):
federal law prohibits schools from providing benefits to undocumented students
that they don't provide to US citizens. Immigration attorney Kelly
Cobbs says the law has been on the book since
two thousand and one.
Speaker 14 (42:39):
They get the same residency requirement as someone that was
born here, and I think, you know, it's more of
a policy argument. These were children brought here and why
should they be penalized and have to pay higher tuition.
Speaker 13 (42:53):
Texas was the first state to enact such a law
to help young people without legal status. Conservative legislators have
tried to repeal the law for years. Cob says If
an appeal is filed, a judge could allow the law
to remain in effect through the appeals process. Texas Attorney
General Ken Paxton took partial credit for the legislation being overturned.
(43:17):
The lawsuit was filed just days after the end of
the legislative session. We're a bill to repeal the law
stalled after passing out of a Senate committee. Cobb says,
according to the American Immigration Council, the state will lose
an estimated four hundred and sixty million dollars a year
in wages if the ban remains in effect.
Speaker 14 (43:38):
It's going to have a financial impact on the university. Also,
they're going to college, so they are going to come
out professionals with degrees who should be earning more. So
they will make money. They will make job.
Speaker 13 (43:53):
The move is part of the Trump administration's crackdown on
illegal immigration. Currently, twenty four states undocumented students to pay
in state tuition. I'm Frida Ross Texas News Service. Find
our trust indicators at Publicnews Service dot org.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
We lost two legends in the music industry this week,
sly Stone and Brian Wilson. We talked to KPFT, producer
and DJ Bobby Fatz about these legends, two.
Speaker 5 (44:28):
Bona fide music geniuses back to back, that close together,
and the word genius gets thrown around a lot, and
in fact, that word is probably one of the most
(44:49):
overused words when we're talking about high level creators. Many
times those creators get.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
That title.
Speaker 5 (45:08):
Undeservedly. H and because of course you can be a
high level creator and not be a genius. These both
these were both genus of their of their of their crafts,
and so it's so it's you know, and of course
(45:30):
it's sad to lose them so close together. Starting with
fries Stones, you're talking about a man who was so
innovative and not only his approach to music, but his
(45:56):
thoughts about how it should be presented. You know what
he wore, the makeup of his band, the diversity of
his band, the diversity of his music, you know what
(46:18):
he wanted to write and sing about. There was no
one else like it, no one else like it. And
when you look at someone like Brian Wilson of the
Beach Boys, when you get past the early stages of
(46:43):
the Beach Boys, when they were clearly let's say borrowing, no,
let's use the correct words they were stealing from you know, uh,
you know, cats like cut Berry. When you get past
(47:04):
those early days of that kind of nonsense, which was
prevalent in the sixties fifties, you have it, But it
turns out that they were actually extremely talented and Brian
Wilson was just unreal, you know, in just in terms
(47:31):
of harmonies, how he heard harmonies in his head and
turned that into what he was able to get on
on tape. In terms of his songwriting, you know, you
think about albums like pet Sounds, which, of course, for
(47:53):
you know, many people changed the course of how people
thought about music, and you know, in many ways unleashed
a lot of uh, you know, boundaries that people thought existed.
(48:14):
You know, it's it's it's it's just wow. It's wow.
You know. Of course, you know, when you when you
think about songs like God Only Knows, and that's often called,
you know, probably the best pop song ever written. You know, man,
(48:37):
it's it's just it's it's it's unreal to lose two
guys like that back to back. And it's also interesting
on a you know, on a different level, how we
see genius through the scope of race and their struggles
(49:05):
they both were famous for having very public, very and
you know, intense struggles with themselves, but they were treated
completely differently. Fly was often looked at as you know,
(49:29):
this guy to be you know, chat ties and looked
down upon for his struggles, and Brian Wilson was all
often looked at as someone to be you know, pitied
(49:56):
and felt sorry for and you know, you know, lifted.
Speaker 2 (50:04):
In love.
Speaker 5 (50:08):
And is is that Brian Wilson's fault that he was
treated that way? No, of course not. But it does
speak to us as a society and how we look
at folks through particular lenses. And that's the that that
that also has to be talked about when you talk
(50:29):
about these two geniuses, you know, and the fact that
they passed one right after the other. You know, how
one guy was considered in his genius his struggles and
how another gentleman was considered in his genius and his struggles.
You know, it definitely speaks to the the issues that
(50:52):
we often find ourselves in in the society. That being said,
they're both the be unbelievably missed. You know, I'm glad
that Flystone was able to receive his flowers to a
certain degree, especially in the sense of questlove producing a
(51:15):
great documentary that was just released just a few short
months ago about Flystone. Excellent documentary. I recommend it for
anyone who hasn't seen it. If you've got Hulu, it's
on Hulu. Great, great, great documentary. And of course Brian
(51:36):
Wilson received his flowers many times over, and there's lots
of good resources for those who may not be particularly
familiar with his work, or you know what he's done
in later years slot out there on it that's worth
checking out. So I've got great respect for both gentlemen.
(52:00):
I'll miss them both. I was a huge fan of
both men, and.
Speaker 2 (52:08):
You know.
Speaker 5 (52:11):
They'll be terribly missed for sure.
Speaker 1 (52:13):
That was KPFT producer and DJ Bobby Fatz speaking on
the deaths of Rock and Roll Hall of famers Brian
Wilson and sly Stone. We start off the Suspicion of
the People's News with a reading from Timothy Snyder's on
Tyranny Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, which was published
in twenty seventeen and something I used as a guidebook
(52:36):
to get me through the first Donald Trump presidency. We're
reading number fourteen of the twenty lessons, which is entitled
establish a private life. Nastier rulers will use what they
know about you to push you around, scrub your computer
of malware on a regular basis. Remember that email is skywriting.
(52:57):
Consider using alternative forms of the Internet or simply using
it less have personal exchanges in person for the same reason.
Resolve any legal trouble. Tyrants seek the hook on which
to hang you. Try not to have hooks. What the
great political thinker Hannah Arendt meant by totalitarianism was not
(53:20):
an all powerful state, but the erasure of the difference
between private and public life. We are free only in
so far as we exercise control over what people know
about us and in what circumstances they come to know it.
During the campaign of twenty sixteen, we took a step
toward totalitarianism without even noticing it, by accepting as normal
(53:43):
the violation of electronic privacy, whether it is done by
American or Russian intelligence agencies, or for that matter, by
any institution. The theft, discussion, or publication of personal communications
destroys a basic foundation of our rights. If we have
no control over who reads what and when, we have
(54:03):
no ability to act in the present or plan for
the future. Whoever can pierce your privacy can humiliate you
and disrupt your relationships at will. No one, except perhaps
a tyrant, has a private life that can survive public
exposure by hostile directive. The timed email bombs of the
twenty sixteen presidential campaign were also a powerful form of disinformation.
(54:29):
Words written in one situation makes sense only in that context.
The very act of removing them from their historical moment
and dropping them in another is an act of falsification.
What is worse, when media followed the email bombs as
if they were news, they betrayed their own mission. Few
journalists made an effort to explain why people said or
(54:52):
wrote the things they did at the time. Meanwhile, in
transmitting privacy violations as news, the media allowed themselves to
to be distracted from the actual events of the day.
Rather than reporting the violation of basic rights, our media
generally preferred to mindlessly indulge in the inherently salacious interest
we have in other people's affairs. Our appetite for the
(55:15):
secret thought arrant is dangerously political. Totalitarianism removes the difference
between private and public, not just to make individuals unfree,
but also to draw the whole society away from normal
politics and toward conspiracy theories. Rather than defending facts or
generating interpretations. We are seduced by the notion of hidden
(55:38):
realities and dark conspiracies that explain everything. As we learn
from these email bombs, this mechanism works even when it
is revealed it is of no interest. The revelation of
what was once confidential becomes the story itself. It is
striking that the news media are much worse at this than, say,
(55:59):
fashion or sports reporters. Fashion reporters know that models are
taking off their clothes in the changing rooms, and sports
reporters know that their athletes shower in the locker room,
but neither allow private matters to supplant the public story
that they are supposed to be covering. When we take
an active interest in the matters of doubtful relevance at
(56:20):
moments that are chosen by tyrants and spooks, we participate
in the demolition of our own political order. To be sure,
we might feel that we are doing nothing more than
going along with everyone else. This is true, and it
is what aren't described as the devolution of society into
a mob. We can try to solve this problem individually
(56:42):
by securing our own computers. We can also try to
solve it collectively by supporting, for example, organizations that are
concerned with human rights. That was an excerpt of the
book on Tyranny, Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by
Timothy Snipe. The People's News is a production of Steve
(57:04):
Gallington and Richard Hannah, and is protected by copyright laws.
All the information broadcast on air and online, as well
as published in both print and or online, including articles,
audio clips, illustrations, graphics, photographs, and videos, are protected by
these copyright and other state and federal intellectual property laws. Therefore,
(57:25):
you may not use our content in any prohibited way,
including reproducing, publishing, transmitting, selling, rewriting, broadcasting, or posting on
the Internet without the expressed written permission of The People's News.
Prohibited use also includes publication of our material in printed
or electronic brochures, newsletters, or flyers, as well as all
(57:45):
website or email distribution. To obtain permission to use copyrighted material,
email Steve Gallington at Steve at gallington dot com. Thank you,
It's the week of June fifteenth, twenty twenty five, and
this is what's on the People's News. Over fifteen thousand
turnout for Houston's No King's protest. Warrantless arrests agents who
don't id themselves, welcome to the convicted felon's criminal immigration crackdown.
(00:26):
An off duty HPD officer and a retired HPD officer
shoot and almost kill an unarmed man walking his dog.
Former mayor returns the spotlight to run for county judge.
It's Pride month and it's a little quieter this year.
Texas GOP looks to end a state tuition for undocumented immigrants.
(00:50):
Two music geniuses lost this week. All that and more
on the People's News. I'm Steve Gallington. This is the
People's News, and the People's News starts now. This is
Steve Gallington of the People's News. I want to report
(01:11):
that I had the distinct pleasure of attending the No
King's rally, which was held on Saturday, June fourteenth, Flag
Day from about ten o'clock in the morning through about noon.
First going into it, I had a lot of anxiety
and fear, especially based on all the news that was
coming out of Los Angeles about the convicted felon illegally
(01:36):
and against the constitution. Of course, when you put a
criminal in the White House, you get a criminal government,
and they've been breaking the law every single day. But
with the escalations of violence in Los Angeles at the
hands of the California National Guard and now the US
Marines detaining US citizens on US soil for the first
(01:58):
time in history, and with the announcement that Republican Governor
Greg Abbott mobilized and called up five thousand Texas National
Guard troops to keep the peace during the protests, it
made me very nervous about what would happen. But I
was greeted when I got there by a happy, vibrant,
(02:20):
and fun crowd. We were over fifteen thousand strong, one
of over two thousand protests no King's protests nationwide. They
estimate now between five and twelve million people turned out
across the country yesterday to protest against the corrupt and
criminal Trump administration. Here's some sound from the event as
(02:44):
we were listening to the speakers at City Hall just
prior to when we marched.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Protected flag and everything that it means.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Remember the last worst liberty and justice fraud. Good morning, Houston,
Morty Star, can everone grab a sip of water.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Graam's and water while we're talking. I'm Abby Cayman.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
I am so proud to be one of your council
members right here in Houston.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Good morning.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
You said, my name is Mario Castillo.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
I'm your district as Houston City council member. Housday.
Speaker 5 (03:36):
Good morning.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
My name is Hookey Phemius and I'm your district guy.
He's a city council member.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
And I know council Member Sally Elhorn is somewhere in
the crowd.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
But we thought, but it.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Was important to make sure we are here. So you
know every level of government is standing with you. This
is your city hole.
Speaker 6 (03:57):
Make sure your voice is Friday.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
We thank the organizers and we think all of you
for making sure your.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Voice is heard.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
I also want to thank our public safety folks that
are here today to protect us as well. And in
that fame, it is my privilege to call to the
stage Major Roger Boykins, retired out of bour Campbell Home
up the one hundred and first, thank you to all
(04:31):
of our veterans.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Oh, we're celebrating two things day.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
We're celebrating the Army's birthday. Holy we taking over to
this country and they're flame there. We're gonna fin play
the legions to the black Okay.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Everybody, put the hand on you. I'm a pleasant Legions.
The United States of America.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
And to the Republic stands one nation under God, indivisible,
liberty and justice.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
We have a lot of veterans out here. Yeah, we
have better school.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
We had in religions that were the immigrants that came over.
He puts make a look of agen and then they
served this country and they serve the nation. We took
it all to this country, not king. Okay, we need
(05:58):
to remember that we stand up for America first. After
everybody the wanting hurt, I.
Speaker 7 (06:08):
Was a part.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
I'm gonna shut up right now. Okay, but got three minutes,
that's really three minutes. But remember, we took it over
for this country, and we took it over for this country,
for every person that walks in America.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
And when we when when I was in uniform, I
was proud to wear that uniform knowing that I was
representing the United States.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
When I was over in Europe and other places in
Germany and Korea.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
We knew we took it over to represent America.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Now, if you go over to the other countries right now,
I guarantee you and looking at us laughing.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Okay, but you guys, get your head upide.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Remember this is the United States of America.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Now. The estimate from the organizers was that there were
fifteen thousand people there present. I'm really not that good
at math. It seemed like at least fifteen thousand. But
we did march from City Hall all the way down
to Discovery Green, turned around and came back. I was
near the front of the route of the march, and
(07:22):
according to Google Earth, the parade route was just over
a mile a mile and a third And when I
got back to City Hall, you could still look across
the block and see that the opposite street where we
were marching out on was completely filled with people. So
at least fifteen thousand people. The energy was great. There
(07:45):
were no National Guarden troops at the protest yesterday, not visible.
The Houston Police Department was visible and visibly keeping us safe.
Did not confront the protesters in any way, were very
kind and kept what counter protesters there were, and I
didn't notice any counter protesters except maybe a half dozen
(08:05):
or so folks dressed up in the yellow and black
of the Proud Boys group at the far end of
the route near Discovery Green. They were kept from the
rest of the marchers by HPD and everything went very well,
So it was inspirational. It shows that even a want
(08:26):
to be dictator pulling all the levers of power to
get an authoritarian government cannot happen in this country if
the people stand up against them, and the country has
said in a very loud voice once again, millions of
people in the street, fighting for our fellow citizens, fighting
(08:47):
for our friends and neighbors, fighting to keep America free
and keep America a democracy, as they said, with liberty
and justice for all. And off duty Houston Police LAE
officer and a retired HPD officer shot and almost killed
Keith Meyer, who was walking his dog at the time.
(09:08):
He had walked on a neighbor's property and an argument
had ensued. He was shot three times in the leg
and stomach. We talked to civil rights attorney Randall L.
Callaman about this case and another case in the city
of Santa Fe south of Houston in Galveston County, where
a woman was held down in a bed of ants
(09:29):
by law enforcement.
Speaker 8 (09:32):
Keith Meyer was walking his dog late one night in
February near his own property. He had lived there for
over thirty years, and he got kind of lost because
there's no street lights or anything in the forest, of course,
and he ended up on his neighbor's property, and who
(09:55):
was the daughter of a retired police officer who lived
really close and a current duty police officer lived next door.
And he was unarmed, yet they shot him in the leg,
and then they shot him in the stomach, and then
they shot him in the face. He almost passed aways.
(10:19):
He's had several surgeries, three or ready for maybe and
then he has to do more reconstructive surgery on his face.
And the investigating officer for Montgomery County, because this happened
in Mognolia, which is in Montgomery County, she has stated
that keith Meyer, the victim, had no weapon on him
(10:42):
and he did not assault anyone. What the officers are
claiming is, you know, the common thing, you hear he
reached toward his waistband and that he threatened them verbally,
which is denied by Keith So it's really disturbing and
so we need to get to the bottom of it.
I was very disappointed that neither the Montgomery County Sheriff's
(11:07):
Department nor the Houston I D Department, which who claims
is investigating this, have collected the medical records, because of
course the medical records would show how many times he
was shot, where he was shot, potentially the angle he
was shot at, and all that. And neither one of
those people who claim to be investigating organizations who claim
to be investigating even asked for those medical records, which
(11:31):
makes me think maybe they don't want the evidence. They
don't want to be hold in holding any evidence, because
of course then then if they have evidence, you know,
if there's no evidence, then maybe there can be reasonably
no actions against the two officers, right right, So what
(11:52):
there are they gonna was gonna go to a grand
jury at all? Well, there is always the potential fore
grand jury, and he in Texas, in Houston anyway, in
Harris County, all shootings by the police do go to
a grand jury. It's a policy. But this is Montgomery County,
and so I do not know the policy there.
Speaker 5 (12:12):
Every case, even if you're retired, you still have to
go through the same process.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
No.
Speaker 8 (12:19):
I remember one of the officers was retired. The other
one was active duty with nine years on the force.
He was in the homicide division. That's the active duty one.
So so the i D would be in reference to
the active duty officer.
Speaker 5 (12:34):
And is he taken off the force or is he
under is he suspended or anything.
Speaker 8 (12:40):
There's currently no restrictions. He's on duty just like he
always is.
Speaker 5 (12:46):
H is HBD Internal Affairs is in involved with this
at all.
Speaker 8 (12:52):
HBD i D claims they're investigating, but in the three
or three four months which as has happened, they have
not got the medical records, which I would think would
be very important.
Speaker 5 (13:04):
So where does where do we stand now? Because it
is Motgommery County.
Speaker 8 (13:09):
As as far as grand jury's I think that's up
to the district attorney and the district attorney. There is
Brett Ligan who used to be a Harris County prosecutor,
so he's very familiar, has worked with HPD for many years.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
Also, you're working on another case too, dealing with the
Santa Fe Santa Fe Police Department, the well Santa Fe
is s D. You want to talk about that for both,
it's both the Santa Fe is D and the Santa
Fe Police Department, because in that particular case, there's a
video which shows that this Santa Fe police officer held
(13:49):
my client's face in a fire and bed while she
was not resisting and in handcuffs. It's Santa Fe. The
Santa Fe Police departments has been in the visitation also
for a while now. Uh, I mean this is asked
more to the scrutiny of that at that police department
and and the the city officials as they're running it.
(14:11):
They're running it that that little square, that little town,
so to speak. Yeah, Well, the elected officials are in
the end responsible for what their officers do. So if
there's any you know, they definitely need to have some discipline.
In this instance, there was I don't believe there was
any discipline against any of the officers. And they're they're
(14:31):
still working for both of their respective agencies.
Speaker 8 (14:34):
How is a woman as involved, How is she doing well?
She is, she's recovered physically, but not mentally.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
That was civil rights attorney Randall L. Callaman Hi. This
is Steve Gallington, producer and host of the People's News.
If you have a story that needs to be told,
come to us we accept fully produced audio written material,
or just give us the idea and we will run
with it. Shiny new one hour episodes of The People's
(15:04):
News drop each Sunday on The People's News podcast, hosted
by spreaker dot com and linked to my website Gallington
dot com. Federal agents, under the direction of the corrupt
and criminal Trump administration, are making warrantless arrests around the country,
(15:25):
holding people without charges for days. Added to this is
the illegal detention of people that are protesting ICE actions
at businesses and at people's homes. The National Guard and
the US military is being used to detain US citizens
on US soil. Now this is being challenged in courts.
(15:48):
In Irvine, California, ICE agents drove a failings of military
vehicles in the Orange County suburb to rest a single person,
though not for illegal immigration. They were seeking a residence
son who had allegedly posted flyers alerting neighbors to the
presence of ICE agents. Leo Juarezepherino, a Washington State farm
(16:09):
workers union organizer, was another ICE target. Agents in an
unmarked car stopped him as he was driving his wife
to her job at a Tulip farm. The agents who
didn't show badges or identification smashed his window and pulled
him from the car. According to Familia's Unatus port Lojestica,
(16:29):
a farm worker union. Kate Lincoln Goldfinch is an immigration
attorney an owner CEO of Lincoln Goldfinch Law. We asked
her about the state of America right now.
Speaker 5 (16:41):
We're talking about ice. There warn't this arrests masked and
so you don't know and you can't even you can't
even get any type of information from who's trying to
risk or what you're being arrested for. You want to
talk about that. It's the legality of.
Speaker 9 (16:57):
It, sure, I mean, if there's not a blanket prohibition
against an officer in playing clothes making arrest. If you
think about it, there are like detectives who are on
playing clothes. Of course we know that. But what officers
do have to do is identify themselves and give the
you know, what agencies are with, what their name is,
what their badge number, make it very clear who they are.
(17:18):
And the way that these officers are showing up, you know,
with masks over their faces in playing clothes, they don't
seem to be identifying themselves are really giving any information,
and a lot of these detentions, the way that they
are behaving is that is illegal. Number one. It's also
really bad policy because you know, it turns into what
(17:40):
looks and in many cases could be just a kidnapping
off the streets. And we also know that this is
a time where the delantes or anti immigrant people are
out on the street pretending like they are law enforcement,
and so more than ever before, it's really critical that
law enforcement behaves ethically morally, and that if they are
(18:01):
going to go so far as to detain someone, they
make it very clear who they are, that they are
legitimately law enforcement.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
And this is going on, This is this is going
off for National guardsmen because they seem like they're using
all not just National Guards and brand and Marines, and
they're deputizing them as as as law enforcements.
Speaker 9 (18:20):
Right I mean, And that adds a whole other layer
to what's happening. So we see arrest by ice in
plain clothes around the country, and then we have protests
in la and in an unprecedented way, the president is
commandeering the National Guard and sending in the Marines to
essentially attack US citizens on US soil, and that is
(18:42):
a very very concerning action by the president. I think
a lot of people are bothered and paying attention.
Speaker 5 (18:51):
But he continues on and he has the course to
back him up on a lot of this. I think
California governor went to courts on an appeal as they
went back to supporting the Trump administration. So it seems
like it's a back and forth case and that's what
the administration wants. Am I correct on that.
Speaker 9 (19:14):
What's happening with the deployment of the National Guard is
that the state of California brought a lawsuit. The original
federal court issued a tro which is essentially a block
of the usage by the Trump administration of the National Guard.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted that tro essentially
allowing the National Guard to be commandeered by the Trump administration.
(19:38):
But this is all very temporary. There's a hearing scheduled
in just a few days on June seventeenth, and so
no one really knows what's going to be happening. But
I would say at this point it's very up in
the air what is going to happen with the National Guard?
And the question is can the president commandeer of the
National Guard, because even though this is National Guard, typically
(20:00):
the National Guards are under the control of governors in
the states.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
And these these are these general agents. Are they getting
away with breaking the constitution because you know, you're supposed
as a law enforcement you're supposed to identify yourself.
Speaker 9 (20:23):
Right well, I mean, if these National guardsmen or marines
are are making arrests which they're not supposed to be
doing right now, and they are failing to identify themselves,
they're violating that several laws and policies.
Speaker 5 (20:39):
Even if even even if they're breaking the law, it
seems like this administration is given a blanket, a blanket
to do whatever they want.
Speaker 9 (20:49):
For the most part, I think that's true. Yeah, I mean,
the Trump administration is certainly not going to turn to
the National guardsmen and say, oh, you're you're misbehaving in
the way that you're arresting people. That's too aggressive. But
I do think that the way all of this is
playing out on the ground will become relevant to the
lawsuit in Federal court and the Ninth Circuit Court of
(21:11):
Appeals as they hear an argument if there have been
instances where the National guardsmen of the Marines are detaining
people against policy, and especially doing so without identifying themselves.
I think that would be all the more reason that
the court would rule against the usage of these military
forces against US citizens.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
That was Immigration attorney Kate Lincoln Goldfinch, former Houston mayor
and East Parker, has decided to run for Harris County Judge.
We were there for her announcement.
Speaker 10 (21:41):
I just filed for election for Harris County Judge in
twenty twenty six.
Speaker 6 (21:46):
I'll be running in the.
Speaker 10 (21:47):
Democratic primary in March of next year, and then hope
to win the November election and take office in January.
Speaker 6 (21:58):
I am concerned learned about.
Speaker 10 (22:01):
The increasing dysfunction in Washington, the continued drumbeat of attacks
by Austin on local governments all over the state, and
I believe that my experience and skill set are perfect
for what Harris County needs as we navigate these challenges
that are coming at us. We're in a hurricane season.
(22:23):
We're about to have looks like a torrential rainstorm. We
have a government in Washington that doesn't believe in climate change.
Speaker 6 (22:31):
We know what's happening down here.
Speaker 10 (22:32):
They have they're trying to dismantle and do away with FEMA,
and they've already laid off most of the hurricane forecasters.
That means that we down here have to be ready
to take care of ourselves. The primary functions of Harris
County government are their law enforcement, their blood mitigation through
Harris County Flight Control, public health through Harris County Hospital District,
(22:57):
traffic and transportation, the road building that the commite sationers do.
Speaker 6 (23:01):
And then of.
Speaker 10 (23:01):
Course we have an affordability crisis and not enough homes
and not enough housing, and I'm just out there having
a conversation with a homeless guy as we were waiting.
All of these are issues that have to be addressed,
and more and more we're gonna have to address them
with the resources. The best in the bride is the
brain power and the abilities we have down here.
Speaker 6 (23:19):
I want to serve, I want to lead. I'm ready
to get to work.
Speaker 11 (23:22):
How you talked to Judge Dolgo about the fact that
you were going to announce your running.
Speaker 6 (23:27):
I let her know we have not had a conversation.
Speaker 10 (23:30):
I don't believe in sneaking up on people, and right
now there's nobody else in this race. I don't know
whether she's running or not. I'm not running against Lena Dalgo.
I am running to be the next Harris County judge.
And this the elections eighteen months away, So this is
an opportunity to have conversations around the county.
Speaker 6 (23:49):
Yes, I led the city of Houston.
Speaker 10 (23:50):
That's almost half the voters, half the population of Harris County.
But there are more than thirty other cities out there.
I'm familiar with them, but I want to get to
know them better. There are neighborhoods that I want to
talk to. I've been out of office for a while.
This is an opportunity to reintroduce myself and reintegrate the
(24:11):
ideas that they have with what my thoughts are and
figuring out what we can do to make Karas County safer,
healthier and stronger and actually more affordable going forward. Have you.
Speaker 11 (24:24):
About the main problem with Bright now is the jail
and a jail over crowding. We've had twenty five guests
I think last year, and we continued on the same
path this year, and we've been talking about this for
a long time and Nefli's been done.
Speaker 6 (24:39):
I served with E. Gonzalez.
Speaker 10 (24:40):
A Gonzalez is a friend and I believe he's an
outstanding sheriff. He is very well aware of the problems
in the jail. Most of the problems in the jail
are overcrowding. It's not what he caused, but is what
he has.
Speaker 6 (24:53):
To deal with.
Speaker 10 (24:54):
And I look forward to being a partner with him
once I am in this position to help sol some
of these problems.
Speaker 12 (25:01):
One of the things that's going on right now is
the attacks on the attack on Houston by the governor
and the lieutenant governor. And one thing is the attack
LGBTQ community. They've attacked a minority community and new talk
any attack voting rights, how how do you feel?
Speaker 2 (25:16):
How do you fight that?
Speaker 10 (25:21):
You know, John John Lewis used to talk about being
in good trouble. There are smart fights and there are
stupid fights in their dangerous fights. I think when we
are attacked on issues where we absolutely know that we
are right and we have to protect the citizens of
Harris County, we will stand up over and over again
and do everything we can to protect them. But you know,
(25:44):
we also have to be really careful not to pick
stupid fights. Well levels of government that in a crisis,
when the when the next storm inevitably comes.
Speaker 6 (25:52):
We have to be able to turn to them.
Speaker 10 (25:54):
And I will say that even though politically and philosophically
I disagree very much with most of what Greg Abbott
has done, a lot of what he did in those
last legislative sessions as mayor. When I called on him
at the State he responded, that's what we expect from
our from our public officials.
Speaker 6 (26:13):
We down here protect the rights of our citizens. We're
gonna push.
Speaker 10 (26:16):
Back wherever we need to, but we expect them to
understand that we are also citizens of Texas.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Being county judge of b mayor are two different beasts.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
What challenges do you expect to have to tackle that
are different than you have to deal with us mayor.
Speaker 10 (26:30):
The biggest difference is that there are independent elected officials
down here in the county who control aspects of county government.
And the cities is one entity, but with the county
there's independent elected officials. I have a good track record
of being able to work with very diverse officials in
(26:51):
other agencies, other cities, other levels of government. I understand
the limitations of the role, but I also understand the opportunities.
Speaker 6 (26:58):
Of the role.
Speaker 10 (26:59):
And I'm not I'm not running for county judge because
I want another job or because I have another I
have other political aspirations. I want to serve Harris County.
I know I can lead, I know I can be effective,
and I still have a heart for service. So I'm
looking forward to that, and I actually I'm really looking
(27:22):
forward to spending the next eighteen months or so getting
to know, really at a granular level, the entire county
in the same way that I knew at a really
granular level.
Speaker 6 (27:36):
In the city of Houston.
Speaker 10 (27:38):
I grew up in unincorporated Spring Branch. My grandparents lived
out on Brittmore Road. My other grandparents lived out on
jack Rabbit Road, and unincorporated Harris County. My first house
was in the city of bel Air. It's not that
I don't know the broader county and the broader issues,
but this is an opportunity to formally go out, introduce
(27:59):
myself in and say what do you need waken Harris
County do better. But I also have to sit down
with all these independent elected officials because this is a
different position, and I don't I want to, I would
not will not have the same authority.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
People bring up, people will bring up your record that's mayor,
the things that you do that's.
Speaker 10 (28:18):
Mayor right, for good, for good or ill. I have
a record as mayor. I will tell you that there
were there were no scandals on my watch at any
of the levels of government in which I serve.
Speaker 6 (28:28):
And I, you.
Speaker 10 (28:29):
Know, I if I say I'm going to do it,
I do it. I do it to the best of
my ability, and I'm run through the tape.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
What's your relationship like with Mayor John Whitmyer.
Speaker 4 (28:37):
He Andlina Hidalgo have in the past had some headbutting.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
What's your relationship like with him.
Speaker 10 (28:46):
I've known that John Whitmyer a very long time. I've
known all of the players that are currently serving here
in county government for for a very long time. I
look forward to a productive relationship, as I said, both
of John Widmar, but also with Greg Abbott when he's
doing the right thing. I don't have any problem calling
(29:06):
out another official if I think they're doing something that
is damaging to my constituents. But I also am happy
to work with him, you know, as mayor. I work
regularly with Steve Raddick, who.
Speaker 6 (29:19):
Was County Commissioner.
Speaker 10 (29:20):
We did another number of parks projects together.
Speaker 6 (29:24):
I worked with John Cornyn on.
Speaker 10 (29:30):
Red Kids and human trafficking initiatives, but I also called
him out when they were coming after the LGBTQ community
or when they were attacking voting rights. So it is
a matter of they have to know where we stand
on issues of principle, but they also have to be
reminded that we're all residents of the state of Texas
(29:50):
and they need to do the right thing in a crunch.
Speaker 12 (29:54):
What do you say to people about demo community because
they're under attacking Aaron fear right now, especially with Ice.
Speaker 6 (30:01):
They should be afraid.
Speaker 10 (30:03):
Donald Trump is trying to overturn all of the guardrails
of government across this country, and he is adding gasoline
to the fire with the protests in California.
Speaker 6 (30:16):
But he's doing it deliberately. Public protests is a civil right.
Speaker 10 (30:21):
We have to be smart about it, and we have
to be strategic about it. And people have to recognize
that we're going to lean heavily on the courts because
they're the only thing right at this point that can
rein in the president because Congress has abdicated his responsibility
to do that.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
She will run first in the Democratic primary and then
in the general election. GLAD, the world's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
and queer media advocacy organization, released the findings of its
thirteenth annual edition of its Studio Responsibility Index, which examines
films released in the twenty twenty four calendar year from
(30:58):
January the first to December thirty first. The study center's
research and analysis on ten top studio distributors A twenty four, Amazon,
Apple TV, Lionsgate, NBC, Universal, Netflix, Paramount Global, Sony Pictures Entertainment,
the Walt Disney Company, and Warner Brothers Discovery, including any
of their subsidiary distribution labels and majority owned streaming services.
(31:23):
We talked to Megan Townshend, GLAD Senior director of Entertainment Research.
Speaker 7 (31:28):
Yes, so, Glad's put out this week the thirteenth edition
of our Studio Responsibility in Debt, which is our study
that matters quantity, quantity and diversity of LGBTQ inclusion in film.
And unfortunately, in this year's study, which looks at skills
(31:49):
that came out in twenty twenty four from ten major distributors,
we actually saw a decreased year over year this second
year to see decrease, and it was down from our
previous record high in twenty twenty two. So what we
found was twenty three point six percent of major studio
(32:13):
releases included LGBTQ characters in twenty twenty four. But once
we really started to dig into that, what we saw
was also a drop in UH in screen time, with
the majority of LGBTQ characters appearing for under one minute,
and also a drop when we looked at the diversity
(32:34):
of those characters, with both decreases in LGBTQ people of
color and in trans characters. So it was not a
happy report, but it's something that we know that audiences
are looking for LGBTQ stories and is something that we
(32:57):
are you know, really you're working with the industry to
try and see where we can go from here. What
is the pass forward to make sure that some of
those standout films that we had, things like Love Life,
Bleeding Mean Girls, Drive Away Dolls, Mild Ass Problems are
(33:19):
more part of the trend forward rather than stand out
kind of unusual findings.
Speaker 5 (33:31):
Do you think that's because you've seen in corporations want
to try to buddy up or try to get closer
to the Trump administration, the United States President and his
and his avenue of excluding the LGBTQ community. I mean,
what we're seeing.
Speaker 7 (33:51):
Right now with the conversation about about DEI is really
that despite some of the headlines and things that are happening,
we know that consumers do, UH do value diverse and
inclusive stories and that they are interested in putting their
(34:15):
money where their mouth is.
Speaker 13 (34:17):
UH.
Speaker 7 (34:17):
So we know that, you know, consumers are are shifting
their dollars. So you know, even just in the first
few weeks since the inauguration, over half of lgbt consumers
have said that they already you know, have already cut
back there they're spending or planned to cut back or
redirect it to UH to companies that are standing behind,
(34:42):
behind the community and behind underrepresented UH audiences across the
board and as a business, if you're looking at the
key segments that you need to keep yourself stable and
too and to grow, it's clear that UH, you know,
businesses can't afford to UH to alienate these kind of
(35:06):
growth segments. If you look at at buying power, you
have one point four trillion UH with LGBTQ buyers one
point seven trillion with Black audiences three point four trillion
with Latine audiences. So going back to that, that number
about people who are realigning their studying with their values
(35:28):
right now, looking at LGBTQ consumers alone, that is over
eight hundred billion dollars. That's you know, potentially in flux
right now, which should be you know, a wake up
call for any company that is looking at what they
have coming up UH to make sure that it is
UH content and marketing that is reflective of the audiences
(35:55):
who are consuming it.
Speaker 5 (35:57):
Are well, I'm talking out the fear, and we saw
where Target took held back on trying to promote Pride Month,
and other corporations are doing the same thing. So it's
just it seems like it's it's fear for corporations who
normally would support especially that in film that normally supports
(36:21):
the community, have scaled back tremendously because of that fear
and backlash, even though it's not it's not as open
that they might think it is, and they don't think
the power is there from that from the communities, but
they outwardly blasting by some of the some officials and
(36:44):
some people on the right have made it so that
corporations want to want want to scale back and be fearful.
Speaker 7 (36:54):
I mean, I would say that there is a small
minority of people who are currently getting outsized coverage in
the press. But again, what we know is that inclusive
films are good for the bottom line. I think it
is very worth noting that of the ten studios that
(37:17):
we you know, that we're looking at for this study,
the only distributor that earned a grade of good was
A twenty four this year, and this was also the
first year that as a studio they passed the two
hundred million dollar mark at the box office for the
(37:37):
first time in the studio's history. So what we know
is that there is a passionate audience and consumer base
who are interested in and actively searching out LGBTQ and
inclusive stories, and studios who are looking to stay stable
(37:59):
or looking to grow. So should be considering these audiences
when they are looking at decisions around green lighting and
past production, also into marketing and release of those titles.
Speaker 5 (38:15):
We know all this is true, but how do we
combat the negative elements is out there?
Speaker 7 (38:25):
Sorry you were breaking up.
Speaker 5 (38:27):
How do we combat these these negative voices that are
out there in the public especially during prigma.
Speaker 7 (38:35):
I mean, I think the answer is doing more right now. Again,
there is an outsized attention that is being paid to
some of these voices that are truly not where the
majority of audiences are, where the majority of consumers are,
where the majority of Americans are. So the more inclusive
(38:59):
stories that we can get out there that are reflective
of the full diversity of the community, the more chances
that we have to connect with the audiences to humanize
our stories and to let people not only see themselves reflected,
(39:19):
but also for people who are different, who are not
in the community, to see us, to learn about us,
to learn from our stories. Again, we know that the
kind of it's impossible to hate somebody once you know
their story, and it's hard to vote against them once
you understand them. And GLAD was you know, was founded
(39:42):
in nineteen eighty five in the midst of a crisis
and response to kind of the height of the AIDS
epidemic and in response to really dehumanizing coverage, and our
founders saw the power of media to share our story
(40:04):
and let people get to know us. And so I
think that is is still present in Glad's DNA and
in the community's DNA that we are a resilient group.
And again we really see and understand the power of
having these inclusive stories that let people get to know
(40:26):
us in a way that is maybe different and challenges
all of the kind of anti LGBTQ rhetoric and misinformation
that we see coming from other sources. And so this
is really now, you know, more than ever for the
kind of power that that stories and film have to
(40:51):
not only do the right thing and educate while entertaining audiences,
but to again win, Uh, have a win in that
bottom line with audiences who are actively seeking out inclusive stories.
Speaker 1 (41:08):
That was Megan Townsend Glad, Senior Director of Entertainment Research,
speaking on the drop in LGBTQ representation in media.
Speaker 5 (41:17):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
This is Steve Gallington, producer and host of The People's News.
The People's News is people powered news. We are free
to report the unvarnished and unspun truth and challenge the
status quo of corporate propaganda and social media advertising disguised
as real news. Shiny new one hour episodes of The
(41:38):
People's News drop each Sunday on The People's News podcast.
Thanks for listening. According to the President's Alliance on Higher
Education and Immigration. Texas has about fifty seven thousand undocumented
students enrolled in public universities and colleges who will no
longer be eligible for in state tuition. We hear more
(42:02):
from Free to Ross and the Texas News Service.
Speaker 13 (42:05):
Immigration rights groups say they are considering legal action to
try and restore a Texas law allowing in state tuition
rates for undocumented college students. The move comes after the
Department of Justice sued Texas and within our state officials
complied without a fight. According to the US Attorney General,
(42:26):
federal law prohibits schools from providing benefits to undocumented students
that they don't provide to US citizens. Immigration attorney Kelly
Cobbs says the law has been on the book since
two thousand and one.
Speaker 14 (42:39):
They get the same residency requirement as someone that was
born here, and I think, you know, it's more of
a policy argument. These were children brought here and why
should they be penalized and have to pay higher tuition.
Speaker 13 (42:53):
Texas was the first state to enact such a law
to help young people without legal status. Conservative legislators have
tried to repeal the law for years. Cob says If
an appeal is filed, a judge could allow the law
to remain in effect through the appeals process. Texas Attorney
General Ken Paxton took partial credit for the legislation being overturned.
(43:17):
The lawsuit was filed just days after the end of
the legislative session. We're a bill to repeal the law
stalled after passing out of a Senate committee. Cobb says,
according to the American Immigration Council, the state will lose
an estimated four hundred and sixty million dollars a year
in wages if the ban remains in effect.
Speaker 14 (43:38):
It's going to have a financial impact on the university. Also,
they're going to college, so they are going to come
out professionals with degrees who should be earning more. So
they will make money. They will make job.
Speaker 13 (43:53):
The move is part of the Trump administration's crackdown on
illegal immigration. Currently, twenty four states undocumented students to pay
in state tuition. I'm Frida Ross Texas News Service. Find
our trust indicators at Publicnews Service dot org.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
We lost two legends in the music industry this week,
sly Stone and Brian Wilson. We talked to KPFT, producer
and DJ Bobby Fatz about these legends, two.
Speaker 5 (44:28):
Bona fide music geniuses back to back, that close together,
and the word genius gets thrown around a lot, and
in fact, that word is probably one of the most
(44:49):
overused words when we're talking about high level creators. Many
times those creators get.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
That title.
Speaker 5 (45:08):
Undeservedly. H and because of course you can be a
high level creator and not be a genius. These both
these were both genus of their of their of their crafts,
and so it's so it's you know, and of course
(45:30):
it's sad to lose them so close together. Starting with
fries Stones, you're talking about a man who was so
innovative and not only his approach to music, but his
(45:56):
thoughts about how it should be presented. You know what
he wore, the makeup of his band, the diversity of
his band, the diversity of his music, you know what
(46:18):
he wanted to write and sing about. There was no
one else like it, no one else like it. And
when you look at someone like Brian Wilson of the
Beach Boys, when you get past the early stages of
(46:43):
the Beach Boys, when they were clearly let's say borrowing, no,
let's use the correct words they were stealing from you know, uh,
you know, cats like cut Berry. When you get past
(47:04):
those early days of that kind of nonsense, which was
prevalent in the sixties fifties, you have it, But it
turns out that they were actually extremely talented and Brian
Wilson was just unreal, you know, in just in terms
(47:31):
of harmonies, how he heard harmonies in his head and
turned that into what he was able to get on
on tape. In terms of his songwriting, you know, you
think about albums like pet Sounds, which, of course, for
(47:53):
you know, many people changed the course of how people
thought about music, and you know, in many ways unleashed
a lot of uh, you know, boundaries that people thought existed.
(48:14):
You know, it's it's it's it's just wow. It's wow.
You know. Of course, you know, when you when you
think about songs like God Only Knows, and that's often called,
you know, probably the best pop song ever written. You know, man,
(48:37):
it's it's just it's it's it's unreal to lose two
guys like that back to back. And it's also interesting
on a you know, on a different level, how we
see genius through the scope of race and their struggles
(49:05):
they both were famous for having very public, very and
you know, intense struggles with themselves, but they were treated
completely differently. Fly was often looked at as you know,
(49:29):
this guy to be you know, chat ties and looked
down upon for his struggles, and Brian Wilson was all
often looked at as someone to be you know, pitied
(49:56):
and felt sorry for and you know, you know, lifted.
Speaker 2 (50:04):
In love.
Speaker 5 (50:08):
And is is that Brian Wilson's fault that he was
treated that way? No, of course not. But it does
speak to us as a society and how we look
at folks through particular lenses. And that's the that that
that also has to be talked about when you talk
(50:29):
about these two geniuses, you know, and the fact that
they passed one right after the other. You know, how
one guy was considered in his genius his struggles and
how another gentleman was considered in his genius and his struggles.
You know, it definitely speaks to the the issues that
(50:52):
we often find ourselves in in the society. That being said,
they're both the be unbelievably missed. You know, I'm glad
that Flystone was able to receive his flowers to a
certain degree, especially in the sense of questlove producing a
(51:15):
great documentary that was just released just a few short
months ago about Flystone. Excellent documentary. I recommend it for
anyone who hasn't seen it. If you've got Hulu, it's
on Hulu. Great, great, great documentary. And of course Brian
(51:36):
Wilson received his flowers many times over, and there's lots
of good resources for those who may not be particularly
familiar with his work, or you know what he's done
in later years slot out there on it that's worth
checking out. So I've got great respect for both gentlemen.
(52:00):
I'll miss them both. I was a huge fan of
both men, and.
Speaker 2 (52:08):
You know.
Speaker 5 (52:11):
They'll be terribly missed for sure.
Speaker 1 (52:13):
That was KPFT producer and DJ Bobby Fatz speaking on
the deaths of Rock and Roll Hall of famers Brian
Wilson and sly Stone. We start off the Suspicion of
the People's News with a reading from Timothy Snyder's on
Tyranny Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, which was published
in twenty seventeen and something I used as a guidebook
(52:36):
to get me through the first Donald Trump presidency. We're
reading number fourteen of the twenty lessons, which is entitled
establish a private life. Nastier rulers will use what they
know about you to push you around, scrub your computer
of malware on a regular basis. Remember that email is skywriting.
(52:57):
Consider using alternative forms of the Internet or simply using
it less have personal exchanges in person for the same reason.
Resolve any legal trouble. Tyrants seek the hook on which
to hang you. Try not to have hooks. What the
great political thinker Hannah Arendt meant by totalitarianism was not
(53:20):
an all powerful state, but the erasure of the difference
between private and public life. We are free only in
so far as we exercise control over what people know
about us and in what circumstances they come to know it.
During the campaign of twenty sixteen, we took a step
toward totalitarianism without even noticing it, by accepting as normal
(53:43):
the violation of electronic privacy, whether it is done by
American or Russian intelligence agencies, or for that matter, by
any institution. The theft, discussion, or publication of personal communications
destroys a basic foundation of our rights. If we have
no control over who reads what and when, we have
(54:03):
no ability to act in the present or plan for
the future. Whoever can pierce your privacy can humiliate you
and disrupt your relationships at will. No one, except perhaps
a tyrant, has a private life that can survive public
exposure by hostile directive. The timed email bombs of the
twenty sixteen presidential campaign were also a powerful form of disinformation.
(54:29):
Words written in one situation makes sense only in that context.
The very act of removing them from their historical moment
and dropping them in another is an act of falsification.
What is worse, when media followed the email bombs as
if they were news, they betrayed their own mission. Few
journalists made an effort to explain why people said or
(54:52):
wrote the things they did at the time. Meanwhile, in
transmitting privacy violations as news, the media allowed themselves to
to be distracted from the actual events of the day.
Rather than reporting the violation of basic rights, our media
generally preferred to mindlessly indulge in the inherently salacious interest
we have in other people's affairs. Our appetite for the
(55:15):
secret thought arrant is dangerously political. Totalitarianism removes the difference
between private and public, not just to make individuals unfree,
but also to draw the whole society away from normal
politics and toward conspiracy theories. Rather than defending facts or
generating interpretations. We are seduced by the notion of hidden
(55:38):
realities and dark conspiracies that explain everything. As we learn
from these email bombs, this mechanism works even when it
is revealed it is of no interest. The revelation of
what was once confidential becomes the story itself. It is
striking that the news media are much worse at this than, say,
(55:59):
fashion or sports reporters. Fashion reporters know that models are
taking off their clothes in the changing rooms, and sports
reporters know that their athletes shower in the locker room,
but neither allow private matters to supplant the public story
that they are supposed to be covering. When we take
an active interest in the matters of doubtful relevance at
(56:20):
moments that are chosen by tyrants and spooks, we participate
in the demolition of our own political order. To be sure,
we might feel that we are doing nothing more than
going along with everyone else. This is true, and it
is what aren't described as the devolution of society into
a mob. We can try to solve this problem individually
(56:42):
by securing our own computers. We can also try to
solve it collectively by supporting, for example, organizations that are
concerned with human rights. That was an excerpt of the
book on Tyranny, Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by
Timothy Snipe. The People's News is a production of Steve
(57:04):
Gallington and Richard Hannah, and is protected by copyright laws.
All the information broadcast on air and online, as well
as published in both print and or online, including articles,
audio clips, illustrations, graphics, photographs, and videos, are protected by
these copyright and other state and federal intellectual property laws. Therefore,
(57:25):
you may not use our content in any prohibited way,
including reproducing, publishing, transmitting, selling, rewriting, broadcasting, or posting on
the Internet without the expressed written permission of The People's News.
Prohibited use also includes publication of our material in printed
or electronic brochures, newsletters, or flyers, as well as all
(57:45):
website or email distribution. To obtain permission to use copyrighted material,
email Steve Gallington at Steve at gallington dot com. Thank you,
Popular Podcasts
Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2
Season Two Out Now! Law & Order: Criminal Justice System tells the real stories behind the landmark cases that have shaped how the most dangerous and influential criminals in America are prosecuted. In its second season, the series tackles the threat of terrorism in the United States. From the rise of extremist political groups in the 60s to domestic lone wolves in the modern day, we explore how organizations like the FBI and Joint Terrorism Take Force have evolved to fight back against a multitude of terrorist threats.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.